From Harford Center for the Arts:
Remembrance & Hope will feature local singers and musicians lending their time and talents to commemorate the 10th anniversary of September 11, 2001. The concert will take place on Saturday, September 10, 2011 at 2pm at the Humbert Memorial Band Shell in Shamrock Park in Bel Air, Maryland. It will feature the Susquehanna Symphony Orchestra (SSO), under the direction of Sheldon Bair, and the Deer Creek Chamber Choir under the direction of Martha Banghart. The SSO will perform an original piece titled “Just Before the Autumn” written especially for this event by musician, teacher, and composer Benny Russell, Adjunct Professor at Harford Community College.
Mr. Russell, who plays tenor, alto and soprano saxophones as well as clarinet, bass clarinet and flute has had a prolific music career that embraces a range of styles spanning R&B, jazz, gospel and classical music, includes arranging and performing for off-Broadway shows like Beehive, and working with Otis Rush, Harry Belafonte, Mino Cinelu, Craig Harris, Jimmy Owens, Junior Cook, Mor Thium and a host of others. Benny Russell was in Brooklyn, New York on September 11, 2011 when he saw a strange cloud in the distance at the World Trade Center and heard that a plane had crashed into the building. His wife, in fact, was in a subway train under the World Trade Center at the time but escaped injury. When asked why he wrote “Just Before the Autumn” he responded, “I know people who lost their lives and I remember the confusion. I can also remember the duress and the heavy profiling of the Islamic community. This piece of music was written for healing in the wake of the 10th anniversary of 9/11.”
Jonathan Palevsky, Program Director and on-air host of 91.5FM WBJC, will emcee the program. There will be an interdenominational moment of grace. The event is free and open to the public. The event is cancelled in the event of rain.
“We greatly appreciate the willingness of these talented musicians and singers to help the community remember such a pivotal moment in our nation’s history through the beauty and healing powers of music”, said Sallee Kunkel Filkins, Executive Director of the Center for the Arts. Remembrance & Hope is made possible through the support of the Town of Bel Air, the Bel Air Cultural Arts Commission, the Susquehanna Symphony Orchestra, the Deer Creek Chorale and the Center for the Arts. For more information, visit www.CenterForTheArtsHarford.org or call 410-838-2177.
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